Iran is adopting Donald Trump’s Art of the Deal strategy by scrambling to sign Western energy deals as bargaining chips before confronting the President-elect, who once called the Iran nuclear deal “one of the worst deals ever made by any country in history.”

Two of the largest oilfield services companies in the world announced a combined workforce reduction of 14,000 in the first quarter of 2016 as crude prices remain soft amid disagreement among international producers to cap production levels. Executives have signaled concern of additional layoffs in the months ahead.

The continuing weakness in the oil and gas sector has caused the ax to fall on another energy giant. Chevron announced they will lay off 1,500 employees worldwide. Nearly one thousand of those oil bust job losses will come directly from Houston.

HOUSTON, Texas – Nine thousand workers are set to be laid off by Texas-based oil giant Schlumberger. The oil tool services company said it must fire 9,000 workers because of plummeting crude oil prices and a slow-down in 2015 production and exploration. The employee reduction comprises about 7.5 percent of the company’s 120,000 global labor force.